The Grasshopper side is a live sculpture of quavering tones, slippery synthetics bleeding towards caustic futures… drones that vibrate like the internal ambience of a speeding car with all the windows down, whilst others come across like a ballerina boxed cologne full of beautifully homicidal shadings, wet dream space rituals and grieving requiem. Orchestrated drones that seem to abandon pastoral paths in favour of mainlining an astral vastness, splintering into satisfying machine scream-e-delics.

The flip side immediately grabs you, a sublime ghosting, all mournful foreboding… A wavering horror shot through with shaking larynx, raspy blows and suitably warped melody. Lighter jazz flurries follow, livened up by a drum n cymbal clatter, the sax mulling it over into overblown disarray, a jumbled meltdown… then distraught alto sax/clarinet breaths bloat outward on an oscillating tide of worming distortion…

Abandon ship certainly seem to be channelling some interesting energies…

This split is a rarity for the underground experimental scene because both bands employ traditional instruments prominently in their music. In the case of Grasshopper, the New York duo bury doleful trumpeting amid their whirring layers of feedback noise, reverberating sonic detritus, and assorted electronic tomfoolery. Their side of this split happens to be made of severely potent stuff. Terrific opener “Smokey Nights, Melting Flesh” is a momentous and hypnotic work, all wrapped up in a high-pitched electronic rush. Meanwhile, aptly-titled “When Hell Overfills, The Dead Will Walk the Earth” could be the cacophonous score to a Dario Argento climax, thoroughly horrific in its fiery harsh noise, blaring trumpet, and what might be hellishly discordant organ keys. Like the rest of Grasshopper’s side, which progresses through its share of noisy peaks and gentler valleys, it deserves to be played loud and mercilessly. On quite a different front, saxophone and clarinet figure much more centrally into Twisty Cat’s sound than trumpet does into Grasshopper’s. The trio of Ed Bear (Talibam!), Lea Bertucci, and Greg Fox (GDFX, Teeth Mountain) merge woodwinds, drums, and electronics to produce an impressive free-jazz rattle, bounding from spectral and mournful (“Sedenion”) to bouncy yet organized (“XGDFXy”) and then back again (“Guns in Grilling”). The recording could be better, but as things are, this rubs off as a casual peek into a semi-organized band rehearsal; though buried in tape fuzz, one can nevertheless sense the seedlings of glory here. Unlike Grasshopper, however, Twisty Cat doesn’t have a live performance to fill the last half of their side, making for a disappointing length of blank tape to finish this sucker off. While it lasts, though, this split is a damn fine adventure.

Back in October I called Grasshopper, the processed trumpet duo of Jesse DeRosa and Josh Millrod, my new favorite band and whether intentionally or not they’ve been defending that title with a fury. Their half hour side is split into three pieces. The first, titled “Smokey Nights, Melting Flesh,” surprisingly begins with a trumpet that actually sounds like a trumpet. After its brief semi-mournful introduction, the buzzing synthetic groundwork is laid. The piece builds unassumingly, bringing back the initial trumpet melody, filter squelch and oddly organ-like tones. The jam builds to a staggering, hypnotic and forceful crescendo. Brilliant piece. “When Hell Overfills, The Dead Will Walk the Earth” follows it up admirably with what I’m pretty sure is just an organ. Though these guys mold their trumpets into all sort of sounds so I wouldn’t be too surprised if there’s no organ around. The piece wastes no time getting right into the thick of it. Glistening, towering walls of drones surround you at every turn like the most overwhelming labyrinth you’ve ever been lost in. At a certain point the vibe changes up with pulsing loops and jets of swampy electronic muck. The track ends up being a cacophonous, seasick rager with an effective melodic undercurrent adding a little bit of Heaven in there with all the hellishness. “Once I Die, Put Two Coins on My Eyes” was recorded live last January on WNYU radio, which reminds me come play on my radio show guys! Please? Anyway, this one plays a little more mellow and minimal at first with layers of filtered trumpet weaving in and out. Slowly more and more layers enter as the piece teeters back and forth between calm and tense territories. It has a great vibe of a beautifully composed piece of music decaying right before your ears. There are flickers of sweet sounding melodies amidst crumbling electronics. A short but great piece. By the way, it says on the j-card “Grasshopper exclusively uses Bach mouthpieces” they’ve gotta be the only band putting out tapes with a sponsorship.

Fellow New York duo, bass clarinet and baritone sax, Twisty Cat take the B-side. Not to be outdone, they contribute the best stuff I’ve yet to hear from them. “Sedenion” showcases Twisty Cat’s less drone-y/more melodic side. There’s great interplay between the instruments and a bit of an eerie, tragic feel. The clarinet wanders and improvises on a great melodic phrase while the sax responds with a deep, counter-melodic undertow. “XGDFXy” features Greg Fox (Teeth Mountain) on drums and the track itself has a very unexpected sound. The trio goes math rock for a bit, with a continuous, complex arpeggio and jazzy drumming before the drums drop out for a breakdown of sustained reeds. The drums return, and the song shifts to the first section but the group builds it to a climax. Definitely an odd track but quite cool. The side’s finale is “Guns in Grilling” which is another left turn. The track sounds like the duo playing melodies and then running everything though a UFO sound effects pedal. Tractor beams, warbly landing noises, they’re all here but the piece definitely doesn’t feel kitschy. Just strangely off-balance and unnerving. The pre-existing weirdness is topped off of with a march in unison between the two instruments. Eventually the duo lock into a real nice melodic bit that gently soars to the track’s close. Twisty Cat serve up a varied platter for their side but it’s all satisfying stuff.